Keaton McCargo

I grew up in the small town of Telluride, Colorado. Like a lot of young and wild kids that grow up in the mountains, I picked up skiing as soon as I could walk. I spent my days chasing my sister and her friends around the beautiful landscape I was lucky enough to call home. She went from skiing racing into mogul skiing and I quickly followed her steps. By the time I was eight, I had completely fallen in love with skiing.

It brought me outside everyday. It showed me the way of the mountains. It taught me to be a free spirit. Mogul skiing is a very complicated sport. You can never ski a perfect mogul run. It is impossible, but that’s what makes it interesting. It is not about just speed, tricks, or turns, it is about what you can accomplish with all of them together and that is pretty cool.

During my senior year of high school I made the US Ski Team. This was my dream come true! I never imagined that all my hard work would pay off. Now on the US Ski Team, the challenge had really begun. I spent the next 4 year honing my skills to the best of my ability so that I could attend the Pyeong Chang Olympics in 2018. After a grueling beginning to the World Cup season I qualified for the Olympics in January of 2018.

I got to go live my dream at the Olympics, amongst thousands of dedicated and amazing athletes, all there for the same reason. Every day was magical. When I stepped foot on the snow, I felt at home. I believed in this moment that I could finally ski the way I wanted to. I gave the Games everything I had. I unfortunately made a mistake in my 3rd qualifying run after coming in 3rd place for the 2nd qualifier. It was a split in my legs, during the middle section. I felt like I had nailed my jumps and my skiing, besides the error, it had been to the best of my ability. I walked away from the Olympics 8th and I have never been happier. I learned so much from that experience.

Not only do I plan to keep developing as an athlete, I also want to continue to develop my love and interest for food and art. I started to enjoy cooking when I began traveling the world as an athlete. Eating great food is, well, delicious, and it gives me the fuel to keep working as hard as I can.

Traveling the world with an adventurous stomach is a great way to learn about the culture you are immersed in. There is so much to taste and learn!Cooking and creating art are my two creative outlets. They relax me and help balance out the intensity of training and the lifestyle that I am currently living.